Praise for 2025 Hope for 2026

January 7, 2026

Gratitude for a Year of Ministry

As I look back on 2025, I am so thankful for the call to become Pastor at Connections Church. That was my prayer at the beginning of the year, and I praise God for answering it. From the very beginning, our family has felt welcomed, supported, and embraced by this church community. Thank you, Connections Church, for opening your hearts to us and inviting us into the life of this fellowship.

We are grateful for meaningful worship, for conversations that build friendship and faith, and for the warmth we experience each Sunday as we gather together. These are only a few of the many reasons I give thanks, but here are some others I especially celebrate.

Moments of Ministry and Community

I bless God for the June baptism service and for the joy of celebrating faith commitments within our church family. I also thank Him for service opportunities, including our fall trip to serve dinner alongside our partners at Jesus on Colfax. What a gift to be the hands and feet of Christ together

We were also blessed this year to welcome new individuals and families into our congregation. It has been a joy to see people finding connection, faith, and a spiritual home here at Connections Church.

And then there is the youth group. Few sounds are as joyful as students laughing and learning together. I praise God when I hear those sounds and I give thanks for those who faithfully lead and invest in our young people.

We are also grateful for practical blessings that support our ministry life, including the installation of the new church screens. Thank you to everyone who helped make that project possible. What a gift to our worship and our shared space.

In addition, we rejoice as we watch young children growing in our church family, and we look forward with joy to those God is bringing into our community in the coming year.

I also think fondly of the car show in June and the pumpkin launch in October. In June I had the privilege of greeting children arriving for Arts Camp. Their bright smiles and excitement for the thoughtful lessons prepared for them were a joy to see. I am deeply thankful for every Connections volunteer who helped make Arts Camp possible.

These memories represent only a snapshot of the blessings we experienced together in 2025. Many other moments of grace took place through visits, prayer gatherings, and special times of fellowship with the College and Career group.

Partnering with HEART for Nepal

When we look back on 2025, many of us will also remember the joy of beginning our formal ministry partnership with Elizabeth Kipgen and HEART for Nepal. How wonderful that our gifts helped children travel to VBS and receive a meal at each session. Seeing their smiles fills my heart with gratitude for the part we were able to play.

Some of those children may one day say, “Thank you for helping make VBS possible in 2025. My life was forever changed.” What a beautiful thought. Thank you to our Deacons for leading this effort, to our congregation for giving generously, and to those who assembled care packages with love and prayer.

A Message to Carry Into 2026

As a pastor, I also look back with gratitude on the messages we shared in 2025. One message I hope you carry into 2026 is this: you are dearly loved.

Paul writes in Ephesians 3:17b–19:

“I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people,
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

God’s love is wide. It reaches every people, tribe and nation. The good news is for all, which means His love includes you. Jesus said, “Whoever comes to me, I will never drive away.”

God’s love is long. It lasts forever. When we have been in glory ten thousand years, His love will still be only beginning in our experience. If God has love prepared for us in eternity, then surely He has love prepared for us in 2026. We are not alone.

God’s love is high. Scripture says, “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him.”

God’s love is deep. It reaches the most broken and forgotten places of the human heart. Christ has rescued many whom the world believed were beyond hope. Paul testified of himself, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.”

Hope for the Year Ahead

We do not know everything that 2026 will hold. Together we continue to pray faithfully, including for the sale of the land. But this we know with confidence. God’s love will again be the central story of the year ahead, just as it was in 2025. He will love us in 2026. He will be with us every hour.

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